Sheet-feeding machine.



P, L; (moss; SHEET FEEDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1910.

Pafentedflct. 13, 1914.

FRANK L. GROSS, OF WOLL.ASTON JHASSACHUSETTS,. FEEDER- COMPANY, A COBPGRATIOIT ASSIGNOR r0 onoss PAPER or MAINE.

SHEET-FEEDING Macrame.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. Cross, a citizen of the United States, residing at ll ollaston, in the county State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Feeding Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to that class of sheet feeding machines in which the sheets are presented to combing devices which act to fan or feather out the sheets, advancing the top sheet to agreater distance than the sheets beneath it. so that the top sheet may be separarted and fed to machines or devices for further manipulating or acting upon it.

it has been found that the resistance to separation between adjacent sheets of paper may vary widely in di'lferent parts of a pile, owing to atmospheric conditions. static electricity, or variations in the character of the coating or printing on the different sheets. W hen the combing devices act upon such a pile or bank of sheets, the tendency is for the sheets which offer the greatest resistance to separation to move forward t0- gether, while a rapid separat-ion is produced at the point where the resistance is the least. This may result in very little if 'any separation between several sheets, and a rapid separation between these sheets and the rest of the pile, so that these sheets are not properly separated and presented to the delivery devices by the action of the combers. It has been proposed to provide retarding devices, which apply a constant pressure to the sheets back of the combers, and thus tend to equalize the friction between the sheets. lVhile these retarding devices tend to equalize the separation of the sheets by rendering the friction between the sheets more uniform, they also tend to hold the sheets back, and thus cause a greater separation between individual sheets during the action of the coinliers. This separation is therefore liable to immune so great that the top sheet will not be a lvanced' during the combing interval into position to be'carried away by the delivery devices.

It is accordingly the object of the present Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 16, 1910.

of Norfolk and Patented Oct. 13, 1914. Serial No. 561,605.

invention to provide a novel and improved construction of retarding mechanism which will act to automatically govern and equalme the separation between individual sheets produced by ing'with the proper feed of the sheets to the delivery devices.

To this end the invention contemplates the provision in a sheet feeding machine provided with combing devices for operating upon the sheets, of a retarder which is actuated to intermittently apply pressure to the sheets to equalize the separation produced by the combing devices.

The invention in its broader aspects contemplates the use of any suitable actuating mechanism which is so controlled or oporated that the retarder will cease to act or be rendered inactive to apply pressure to the sheets when the combing interval eX-'v ceeds a certain length. It is preferred, how ever, to so construct the actuating mechanism that the pressure of the retarder uponthe sheets is relieved during the latter part of the comb, in case the combers remain in action beyond apredetermined period.

Although it is not essential that the retarder should be rendered inactive durin a part of the long comb which results in its being thrown out ofaction or rendered inactive, this construction is desirable, for the reason that the sheets will be rapidly advanced by the combers into position to b acted upon by the delivery devices after the. pressure of the retarder is relieved.

The invention also includes certain further features and combinations, which will be hereinafter described and referred to in the claims, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

The various features of the invention will i be readily understood froman inspection of the accompanying drawing. and the following detailed description of the construction sh wn the ein. The figure of thedrawing is a vertical sectional elevation of so much of a paper fending machine as is necessary to show the application of the present invention thereto.

in the drawing the preferred form of the invention is shown embodied in a machine in which th pile of shoots to be fed is carried upon a. vertically movable table. and is presented to eomber wheels which act to separjate thetop sheets from the pile. This machine is providdiwith two comber wheels, acting upon the sheets on opposite sides of thd-centehline, and independently controlled h -Kent-out devices operated by the front edge of the top sheet in the usual manner. In the drawing only one comber wheel and one set of operating and controlling devices is shown since the two combe; wheels and: controlling devices are the same in construction, and their general mode of operation is well 'undrstood.

' As shown in the drawing, the comber wheel 1 ismounted in an arm 2 and is an *anged to be intermittently engaged with the top of a pile of sheets carried by the vertically movable table 3. The arm '2 is mounted upon the shaft 4, and is provided with an xtension 5, the upper end of which carries a ratchet segment 6. The comber wheel is continuously driven from a driving shaft cated in dotted lines. The means for rais: ng the comber wheel andthus throwing it out of action comprises a pawl'9' pivoted upon the upper end of an arm and arranged to engage the ratchet segment 6. The arm 10 is loosely mounted on the shaft 4, and the engagement of the pawl 9 with theratchet segment is controlled by a fixed cam 11 arranged to engagefapin 12 which projects from the pawl. The upper end of the pawl is pivotally connected to one end of a link 18 the other end of which passes loosely through asleeve 14 pivoted to the upper end of a bell crank lever15. The link'13 is provided'with a collar 16 hrranged to engage the end of the sleeve 14:,

and held in engagement therewith while the comber wheel is 1n actlon by a spring 17 which connects the upper end of the arm 10 with the arm 15. The lever is loosely mounted on the cam shaft '18, and is acted upon by a comparatively heavy spring 19- which tends to swing the arm toward the right. The lever is held against the tension of the spring by a latch 20 engaging the forwardly projecting end 21 of the lever. The means for controlling the disengage ment' of the latch 20 byrthe sheet, and the e devices tor resetting the arm 15, are the same as the corresponding devices shown and described in the patent to Frank L. Cross, No. 812,260. These devices comprise a toothed disk 22 secured to the cam shaft 1 18, and arranged to be engaged by a pawl 23. The pawl 23 is carried upon a rock shaft 24 mounted in the arm 25 which carrice the latch 20, and is engaged with the toothed disk through a finger 26 connected with the shaft 24 and arranged in the path of the sheets. i

When the sheet advanced by the comber wheel engages the finger 26, the pawl 23 is engaged with the toothed disk 22,Which operates the latch carrying arm 25 to re- 4 through a train of gears 8. indilease the bell crank lever 15. The spring. 19 then throws the bell crank lever-toward the right. During the first movement ofthe lever the link 13 swings the pawl 9 and arm 10 toward the right until the pin 12 rides elf the incline of the cam 11., .thus engaging the pawl with the ratchet segment 6. The continued movement of the lever 15 and arm 10 lifts the comber wheel away from the pile of sheets, thus throwing it out of action.

The means for holding the camberv wheel out of action while the sheet operated cutout mechanism is reset, comprises a lever 27 one arm of which is arranged to engage a collar 28 secured to the link 13, and the other arm of which carries a roll arranged to engage a cam-29 secured to the cam shaft.

After the comber wheel has been thrown out of action by the cut-out mechanism, thecam 29 swings the lever 27 toward the right, so that it. will engage the collar 28 and hold the: comber wheel away from the pile of sheets until the 'lever rides off the high part of the cam. Ifthe cut-out mechanism has not been operated: by the. sheet the cam raises the comberj. While the comber wheel is thus held by the lever 27 and cam 29, the

cut-out mechanism isreset by a cam 30 arranged to engage a roll carried by the bell crank lever-15. After the cutout mechanism has been reset, the lever 27 rides off the high part of the cam 29, thus bringing the comber wheel into engagement with the sheets.

The top sheet advanced by-the comber wheels is fed off of the top of the pile by delivery rolls 31 and 32, having the usual construction andmode of operation.

The devices for governing and equalizing the separation of the sheets by the comber wheels comprises a retarder in the form of a shoe 33 which is arranged to rest on the rear of the pile substantially midway, between the two comber wheels. As shown, this retarder is pivoted on the front end of an arm 34, which is-in turn adjustably secured to a sleeve 35 mounted on the shaft 36 which supports the tail clamps (not shown). The sleeve is provided with an arm 37 which is pivotally and adjustably connected to the rear end of a link-38. The front end of the link 38 is connected to one arm of a lever 39, the other arm of which carries a roll engaging a cam 10 which is secured to the cam shaft. .In the embodiment of the invention shown, the earn 40 is so shaped and adjusted upon the shaft 18 that it will act to raise the retarder 83 after the comber wheel has been in action for a certain period. and will rengage the retarder with the sheets before the comber wheels are again thrown into action. Vith this construction the retarder will apply pressure to the sheets during the first part of each comb, andwill remain in action for a definite period, after which it will be raised to relieve the pressure on the sheets. If the combing interval is less than or equal to the interval during ,5. which the retarder-remains in engagement with the sheets, then pressure will be applied to the sheets to equalize the separation duril'lg the entire combing interval. This will cause an increasein the separation between individual sheets, and will prevent rapid separation of two adjacent sheets at any particular point; in the pile. When the combing interval increases and tends to become too long, the retarder will be raised before the end of the combing interval, so that during the last the pile, thus bringing them nearer to the cut-out fingersQG. Thus the retarder will automatically govern and equalize the separation produced by the comber-Wheels without danger of causing a sufiicient separation between individual sheets to interfere with the proper operation of the machine.

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, and to relieve the pressure of the retarder by disengaging-it from the pile, it will be understood that this construction and arrangement is not essential, and-may be modified and varied with- 2. A sheet feeding machine, having, in

combination, a comber, a retarder for applying pressure to the sheets during the comb, and mechanism for actuating the retarder to intermittently apply such pressure to the predetermined part of the comb the comber Wheels may rapidly advance-the sheets at the top of sheets at regular intervals, substantially as described, 4 I

3. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, a comber, a retarder, and mechanism for actuating the retarder at regular intervals to apply pressure to the sheets during the comb and to render the retarder inactive when the comb exceeds a length, substantially as described- I 41A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, a comber, a retarder for applying pressure to the sheets duringthe comb, and mechanism for relieving the pressure of the retarder aftera predetermined interval, substantially as described.

5. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, a comber, a retarder, and mechanism for actuating the retarder to apply pressure to the sheets during each combing interval, and to relieve such pressure of the retarder at the end of a predetermined interval, substantially as described.

6. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, a comber, mechanism for lowering the comber at regular intervals, mechanism controlled by the sheet for raising the comber, a retarder, and mechanism for actuating the retarder to apply pressure to the sheets during each comb, and to re-- lieve the pressure after a predetermined interval, substantially as described.

,7. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, a comber, a cam for raising and lowering the comber, cut-out mechanism controlled by the sheet for raising the comber, a retarder, and a cam for raising the retarder before the comber raising cam acts .to raise the comber, and for lowering the "retarder to engage the sheets when the comber is lowered by its cam, substantially as described.

, FRANK L. onoss.

Witnesses:

'N, D. MCPHAIL, WARREN G. OGDEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for' five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

